Weekend Estimates: Ready Player One Solid On Debut
April 1, 2018
The gulf between blockbusters and also-rans could hardly be starker these days. Since the release of Black Panther to a whopping $202 million on February 16, three movies that could have caught the general public’s imagination have arrived on the scene, and earned somewhere between a fifth and a seventh of that on opening weekend. Ready Player One is the most successful among them, with an opening of $41.2 million predicted by Warner Bros. as of this morning. That compares favorably to the openings of A Wrinkle in Time (which started out with $33.1 million), and Pacific Rim: Uprising ($28.1 million), and is, in fact, the best weekend in 2018 for a movie not called Black Panther, but it barely starts to chip away at considerable marketing costs, let alone a reported $150 million production budget.
Among Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi movies, its opening lands somewhere around the inflation-adjusted openings of Minority Report and Artificial Intelligence: AI, but quite a bit behind War of the Worlds, which launched with $64.9 million back in 2005. The best case scenario for Ready Player One is probably a run like Minority Report’s, and a final box office around $140 million domestically.
Internationally, Ready Player One opened with $128 million from 62 territories, of which China represents a hefty $61.7 million. That’s the best ever performance for Warner Bros. in China. Korea is its second-best territory, with $8.1 million, and the UK comes in third with $7.3 million.
Acrimony is headed for $17.1 million this weekend and a second-place finish. That’s roughly a par score for Tyler Perry, although down a bit from Temptation’s $21.6 million debut in 2013.
God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness didn’t draw many filmgoers this weekend, with just $2.63 million expected from 1,693 theaters. It had some direct competition from the more Easter-friendly Paul, Apostle of Christ, which will pick up $3.5 million this time around, for $11.5 million to date. The God’s Not Dead franchise isn’t looking healthy, with this opening being a big decline from the previously installment’s $7.6 million.
In limited release, Isle of Dogs remains the standout performer, with a theater average of $17,030 as it expands into 165 theaters this weekend. Its $2.81 million total for the weekend is enough for 11th place, and it will most likely break into the top 10 when it expands again next weekend.
- Weekend estimates
- Ready Player One Comparisons
- Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise history
- Biggest seventh weekends of all time
- Top-grossing super hero movies
- Black Panther daily tracking vs. $650 million-plus movies
- Acrimony Comparisons
- God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness
- Pacific Rim: Uprising Comparisons
- Sherlock Gnomes Comparisons
- Paul, Apostle of Christ Comparisons
- Midnight Sun Comparisons
- Unsane Comparisons
- Tomb Raider Comparisons
- Love, Simon Comparisons
- I Can Only Imagine Comparisons
- A Wrinkle in Time Comparisons
- The Strangers: Prey at Night Comparisons
- Red Sparrow Comparisons
- Game Night Comparisons
- Peter Rabbit Comparisons
- Death Wish Comparisons
- Annihilation Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Black Panther, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Ready Player One, A Wrinkle in Time, Isle of Dogs, God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, Acrimony, Paul, Apostle of Christ, Marvel Cinematic Universe, God's Not Dead, Tyler Perry, Steven Spielberg